“Let the Right One In” Love and blood are the same color - a fantasy love story filled with serenity and cruelty *Spoiler alert

The opening scene that sums up everything, the encounter scene full of foreshadowing

“Let the Right One In” is set in the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden in the 1980s. The main character is Oskar (Kaare Hedebrand), a quiet 12-year-old boy. Being bullied at school, he endures every day by keeping a knife in his pocket and fantasizing about taking revenge on the bullies.

One day, he meets Eli (Lina Leandeshon), a mysterious girl who has moved into the apartment next door. Even though it's the middle of winter, Oscar finds it strange that she's so lightly dressed and detached from the rest of the world, but he opens his heart to someone who understands him for the first time, and the two of them grow closer. At that time, mysterious murders continue to occur in the city...

The film begins with a shot of snow falling in the darkness. Afterwards, a shirtless Oscar is shown looking outside from a room in an apartment, but the image of himself and the virtual image reflected in the window are duplicated, as if to symbolize his dual nature. Furthermore, he holds out a knife in his hand and says, ``You pig. Make a noise,'' which is a shocking line, and we can already sense that the story will not be calm.

It is a scene where the difference between the emotional imagery and the solemn atmosphere created by the handsome young man, and the words and actions filled with anger and violence reminiscent of `` Taxi Driver '' (1976) is striking.

Oscar was looking out the window when a car caught his eye. Eli and his father have just moved in. After staring at the two of them, Oscar turns away from the window, points the knife at the sky, and spits out the aforementioned line. This portrayal of ``turning back'' seems to have been done with consideration so as not to cause hostility towards Eli and his friends. At first glance, this action is not particularly noticeable, but it becomes a scene that plays an important role as the story progresses.

By the way, this film has a structure in which the opening scene is repeated at the end, and the beginning has a completely different meaning, ``loneliness'' and the end, ``loss,'' which is a truly stylish production. Additionally, the act of ``putting one's hand on the window'' depicted here appears many times in the play, and functions as a dividing line between reality and ideals, peace and danger, and between humans and abnormalities (more on this part later). .

“Let the Right One In” (c) Photofest / Getty Images

In this way, the opening scene, which lasts less than two minutes, sums up all of the themes of this film. Similarly, the scene where Oscar and Eli meet for the first time leaves a strong impression. After being bullied at school, Oscar comes home and takes out his anger by sticking a knife into a tree that stands in the courtyard of his apartment building. When I felt a presence and turned around, I saw Eli standing at the top of the jungle gym. He was obviously lightly dressed and looked as if he had been there from the beginning.

Then she leaves, leaving behind mysterious words such as, ``I'm sorry, but I can't be friends with you,'' and ``You looked like you wanted to be friends.'' This unusual first Contact symbolizes that Eli is not human. At the same time, this scene also begins to take on a different meaning as the relationship between Oscar and Eli develops. Furthermore, the name ``kun'', the boyish clothing, and the expression ``friend'' serve as foreshadowing later on.

``Let the Right One In'' surprisingly has a lot of direct depictions of violence and cruel scenes, including a face being melted with sulfuric acid, a broken neck, a human body catching fire, a battle with a cat, and necks and hands being torn off. It's a parade of very exciting horror developments. However, contrary to this, the scenes between Oscar and Eli are aesthetically pleasing and tranquil, and the tempo is restrained.

Subtle hints that would be missed if you didn't raise the decibel of sensitivity are presented in a profound manner, and the structure is designed so that the more extreme the world other than the two, paradoxically the purity of the boy and girl shines through. has been done.

The sadness that “only” the main character doesn’t know her true identity